French President Emmanuel Macron downplays shove in the face from his wife

The Associated Press

· Posted: May 26, 2025 10:24 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

Brigitte Macron, the woman of France's president, appeared to propulsion her hubby distant with some hands connected his look conscionable earlier they disembarked from their level to commencement a circuit of Southeast Asia this weekend. 

President Emmanuel Macron dismissed the motion — caught connected camera — arsenic conscionable horseplay, but it caused a disturbance backmost home. French media connected Monday tried to decipher the enactment that cameras spotted done the just-opened doorway of the plane. 

The header of a communicative connected the website of the regular Le Parisien paper asked: "Slap oregon 'squabble'? The images of Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron disembarking successful Vietnam trigger a batch of comment." 

Macron aboriginal told reporters that the mates were simply joking around. 

"We are squabbling and, rather, joking with my wife," helium said, adding that the incidental was being overblown into "a benignant of geo-planetary catastrophe."

His bureau earlier offered a akin explanation. 

"It was a infinitesimal wherever the president and his woman were decompressing 1 past clip earlier the commencement of the travel by horsing around. It's a infinitesimal of complicity. It was each that was needed to springiness ammunition to the conspiracy theorists," his bureau said. 

Contact, past a wave

In video taken by The Associated Press arsenic the Macrons arrived successful Hanoi connected Sunday, a uniformed antheral tin beryllium seen pulling unfastened the level doorway and revealing the president lasting inside, dressed successful a suit and talking to idiosyncratic who wasn't visible.

Two arms successful reddish sleeves scope retired and propulsion Macron away, with 1 manus covering his rima and portion of his chemoreceptor portion the different was connected his jawbone. The French person recoiled, turning his caput away. Then, seemingly realizing that helium was connected camera, helium broke into a grin and gave a small wave. 

In consequent images, Macron and his wife, wearing a reddish jacket, appeared astatine the apical of the stairs. He offered an limb but she didn't instrumentality it. They walked down the carpeted stairs broadside by side. 

The couple, who person a 25½-year property gap, joined successful 2007. They archetypal met erstwhile helium was a pupil and she was a teacher astatine his precocious school, joined with 3 children, including 1 of his classmates.

Macron was erstwhile slapped successful the look by a protester successful 2021. The antheral yet received a condemnation of 18 months successful prison, with 14 months suspended.

Macron is making the archetypal sojourn to Vietnam for a French president successful a decade. On Monday, the countries signed deals connected Airbus planes arsenic good arsenic defence and different spending worthy billions successful full arsenic France seeks to boost its power successful its erstwhile colony amid risks of precocious U.S. tariffs.